Help me find a place to live in Amsterdam!
July 18, 2015 5:18 AM   Subscribe

I've never visited Amsterdam, but this week I accepted a permanent job there, and am planning to start on August 10th. I'm incredibly excited but also terrified and a little clueless, mostly because I don't have housing sorted, and I don't have a lot in savings to manage a relocation. How can I make this move as painless as possible?

As mentioned above, I'm mostly freaking out about accommodation. The job is located in the Amsterdam Zuidoost area, and I'm hoping to find a place close to that. I'm thinking of renting a room in a shared house for the first few months to cut down on complications/agency fees, though I would LOVE a one-bedroom apartment. I would say my budget is around €950/month (exclusive of utilities), but I get the impression that it's difficult to find a nice place within that range.

I've done a fair amount of searching already via the Internet, but I've heard that the easiest way to rent in Amsterdam is to go there and actually look at places. I'm in the UK, so a recon trip to find housing would potentially be feasible, but I can't go until the week of July 27th at the earliest, which is pretty much when I'd want to move. Any ideas for finding a place, or helpful sites I might not have heard of?

Thank you!
posted by littlegreen to Travel & Transportation around Amsterdam, Netherlands (7 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: You can try Funda, Pararius, Trovit, Direct Wonen, and Martplaats (which is sort of like the Dutch eBay/Craigslist). Te huur is Dutch for to rent, so that should help your searches. But indeed, the best way to find a place is to be in Amsterdam. Finding a short-term place for the first few months is a great idea.

Also, have you asked anyone at your new employer? I'm in immigrant in the Netherlands and when I first moved here, my job's office manager was super helpful when it came to finding a place.

There's also the Expatcenter; I've never used it, but I had a colleague who found them very helpful (especially when getting his BSN, which you need to get a bank account, insurance, etc.).

I worked in Zuidoost for about five years, but I didn't live there. The Bijlmer area used to have a bad reputation for crime. But that was several years ago, so it could be better now. But probably the best thing is to scope out neighborhoods and see where you would feel safe living. From what I know of Amsterdam, €950 is on the low side, but I do think Zuidoost is probably cheaper than other areas (certainly cheaper than the center).

You can also look in other cities. I lived in Almere; it's only half an hour from Almere Centrum to Bijlmer Arena by train+metro, and €950/month will definitely get you an apartment in the city center. Duivendrecht, Diemen, and Abcoude are other options. Be sure to check 9292 to see what your commute via public transportation would be like.

Feel free to send me MefiMail if you have other questions.
posted by neushoorn at 6:34 AM on July 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'd grab a room on Airbnb for a month and sort it out from there, looking for a rental from 1 September. Here is a list of rooms in your price range for 1 month block bookings.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:54 AM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]


I personally wouldn't live in the Zuidoost. Amsterdam is TINY - everything is a 10 minute bike ride away - and the Zuidoost is well connected by public transport. Amsterdam is such a fun city to live in - you might as well live somewhere reasonably central.

Let me be honest - you are 100% not going to find an apartment for 950, but you could get a really, really nice room in a great location. Many young professionals share here, and 'professional' flat shares can be really nice. It's also a great way to build a social network. Craigslist is one source for flat shares. Another is good ole Facebook - Wonen in Amsterdam is a useful group.

If I were you, I'd find a decent AirBNB for a month or two when you first move over - or get your employer to foot the bill for an apartment. Buy a bike, get a feel for the neighbourhoods you like, and meet people. Once you're hooked in to the expat scene it's fairly easy to ask around for an apartment or room.

In terms of areas to live, De Pijp is pleasantly cool and buzzy and reasonably close to Zuidoost. Oost is also getting *really* cool - it's on the 'other' side of the Amstel, and loads of shops and restaurants have been popping up there recently. That's also quite close to the Zuidoost.

North of the wall for me would be anything outside of the A10 - Duivendrecht, Amstelveen, Diemen etc.

Feel free to send me a MeMail if you have any other questions!
posted by nerdfish at 7:24 AM on July 18, 2015


I agree with what's been said so far. 950 is a good budget for a room in a flat with other professional. I too would find an AirBnB place and spend a month or two finding a place. It will be a tough search and you don't want to grab the wrong place too quickly. No need to live directly in Zuidoost, you can get anywhere in town quickly op de fiets.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:43 AM on July 18, 2015


Response by poster: Thanks for all the awesome help so far!

Just to clarify something, I probably wouldn't spend €950/month on a house share; I've seen a lot of nice all-inclusive rooms for under €750. The budget of €950 was based upon the figure of 1/45th of my yearly income that I've seen floating around, so while I wouldn't mind spending more, I don't know if it's feasible.
posted by littlegreen at 11:00 AM on July 18, 2015


€950 for 55-60 sqm apartment, outside the singelgracht seems reasonable. It will take a lot of looking and some luck.
posted by humboldt32 at 3:26 PM on July 18, 2015


Best answer: *MASSIVE HUGE CAVEAT* My experience is from Groningen rather than Amsterdam, which - being bigger, and having more expats on temporary postings - is hopefully much more flexible. Also, the last time I looked for a flat in Groningen was in 2009 and things may have changed. Still, forewarned is forearmed, so in case it helps:

Here are the things that surprised me about renting an apartment in the Netherlands, compared with renting in the UK.

- Contracts run from the 1st of the month. As the notice period for ending a tenancy is one calendar month, there's a spike in listings at the start of each month. So if you're not seeing much right now, don't worry too much; but do assume you'll need temporary accommodation through to the 1st of September. It's definitely good to be there in person; I'd look to go over at the end of July, as you suggest, and stay for a week or so to catch the August spike.

- Letting agents don't open on Sundays. Most don't open on Saturdays either.

- Especially towards the end of the month, the listings in agents' windows are often merely representative - I'd walk in and ask to see an apartment in the window and they'd look at me as if I'd grown two heads and tell me "but that apartment is not available!". Funda is much more reliable.

Definitely talk to your employer. Hopefully you are not the first non-Dutch EU national they've employed, and they'll be able to help you navigate through the bureaucracy as well as giving you pointers for accommodation. (On the bureaucracy note - find out now whether you're going to need a legalised (apostilled) copy of your birth certificate when you register with the local council; I did in 2007, and it's much easier to deal with that while you're still in the UK.)

Also, two things you won't need to worry about if you're renting a room rather than a whole apartment, but mentioned for completeness:

- As well as the familiar categories of "furnished" and "unfurnished" there is the surprise bonus category of "unfloored". In an unfloored apartment you are expected to buy and install your own floor covering - carpet or laminate - and then remove it when you move out. In my case, the apartment was technically unfloored, but in fact the previous tenant offered to sell me the laminate that was in situ, which made life much easier. When I moved out, I asked if the landlord wanted to keep the floor, and he said yes. Phew.

- In an unfloored apartment, and possibly also in an unfurnished one, you are expected to install your own light fittings when you move in. Not bulbs and shades - the actual fittings! I would have assumed this was unique to my place had my Dutch colleagues not assured me otherwise (one of them even lent me some temporary fittings that he kept on hand specifically for use during house moves).
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:20 AM on July 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


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